Israel Demolishes 4 Stores in Jerusalem

Israeli authorities on Tuesday demolished four Palestinian-owned stores and the foundations of a building in Beit Hanina, an outskirt of Jerusalem, according to local sources.

WAFA correspondent said Israeli police accompanied by bulldozers cordoned off the town and denied the entry and exit of local Palestinians, before they proceeding to demolish the said structures, under the pretext of construction without an Israeli permit.

The police also razed a land which was used as a playground for children, the sources added.

The demolished structures belong to local al-Haroub family.

Habiba al-Hroub, owner of one of the stores, said his family and he had repeatedly applied for obtaining a permit, but they were denied so since the four stores were close to an Israeli military base.

During the offensive in Beit Hanina, Israeli police also detained a local Fatah official, identified as Shadi Metawir.

Over the course of 2015, Israel demolished 521 structures in Area C as well as in East Jerusalem, displacing 636 people, according to the UN monitoring group OCHA.

The vast majority of these demolitions were carried out on the grounds of construction without a permit. Between 2010 and 2014, only 1.5 percent of applications for building permits in Area C were approved by Israeli occupation authorities, OCHA adds.

Source : WAFA